Cruises deliver jobs and growth

Last updated 7/1/2016 10:55 AM

10,000 new jobs, and an economic impact valued at more than 40 billion Euros. This is how much the cruise industry contributed to Europe’s economy and labour market in 2015, as revealed in figures from the industry body, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

CLIA’s figures for 2015 show that the cruise industry generated a total of 360,000 jobs in Europe. And 10,000 new jobs were added during last year alone. Moreover, the CLIA report shows that the cruise industry is continuing to grow. The industry’s overall contribution to the European economy in 2015 was valued at around 40 billion Euros. This is an increase of about 2 per cent compared with the previous year, and the highest figure noted thus far. At the same time, cruise passengers and crews are estimated to have spent almost 17 billion Euros throughout Europe in 2015.

Popular to go on a cruise
It is also the case that passengers from Europe constitute the second largest market for the global cruise industry. During 2015, 6.6 million Europeans chose to go on a cruise for their holiday. This was an increase of 3 per cent on the previous year. And of all the cruise passengers in the world, about 6 million were in Europe. The growth is expected to continue. There are currently plans to build 48 new cruise ships at shipyards in Europe.

”The cruise industry is contributing to the economic recovery in Europe” observes CLIA Europe’s Chairman, Pierfrancesco Vago. And the picture is unambiguous. Increasing numbers of Europeans are choosing to take a cruise for their holiday, more passengers are choosing to take a cruise in Europe and new cruise ships are being built at European shipyards. This is having a positive economic impact on Europe as a whole, not least in the coastal regions which have been hard hit by the economic slowdown.

The report also sets out that 39 cruise lines have operations in Europe. Together they have 123 cruise ships at their disposal with a capacity of 149,000 berths.